Power Rankings: Episode 49 – S1

Release Date:

June 07, 2020

Narrated by:

PowerRankers

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Venezuela

1 / 0

1: Venezuela

Techno

With a blow from across the ocean, Venezuela's existence was finally cut short. Venezuela long stood as a bastion, the force keeping Uruguay in check and stopping total hegemony over the South American continent. While Venezuela was always the underdog, there was a time early in Endgame where the two civs had rough parity. That dream was quickly shattered by invasions from Uruguay and the Iroquois that ultimately pushed Venezuela out to the Hawaiian islands, and while those islands fell initially to Taungoo of all civs, they too quickly got caught in the crossfire of those two superpowers. You fought well, Chavez, but being a buffer state is a fragile existence.

1: Venezuela

Techno

2: Goths

Cloudberg

The Goths were a civ that made waves throughout the game. At the beginning, we weren’t sure how they would fare, ranking them 39th out of an apparent lack of confidence in their ability to replicate their historical successes. Although they quickly became renowned for making terrible decisions, they did hold their own in various wars, eventually taking the capital of the Golden Horde and holding their own against the Sami and Kazakhs. Unfortunately, this mild success could not be replicated in Endgame, where Alaric’s failure to settle enough cities paved the way for the rise of the Kazakhs, before he was eventually killed by an exclave of Benin. Although his end was humiliating, Alaric ultimately finished a full 24 places ahead of his Episode 0 ranking, which can only be considered a success.

3: Metis

Altima

And the Metis are gone for good. While they effectively brickwalled the Iroquois early on in Endgame with their ludicrously stout city DEF, they never capitalized on that advantage enough to actually stop their neighboring nemesis or even actually push into their lands. This became more of an issue with the Metis’s chronic oversettling problems- with all of the cities they settled, particularly the garbage arctic ones, they never had the Science to maintain a competitive tech level after the early game while the Iroquois in turn were busy teching up into the stratosphere. By the time the first devastating tide rolled in, it was bombers against riflemen. By the time the final shot was fired, all Louis Riel could do is wonder what could have been, if his greatest rivals hadn’t cheated their way into Facism all those millenia ago.

4: Sami

Vihreaa

You always knew it was inevitable, but that doesn’t make it any more sad. This is the feelings and thoughts that go through everybody’s head when their grandmother passes away. The Sami were favored to be a powerful contender going into the CBRX, consistently ranking in the top 10 for most of the game, with their highest ever ranking being 3rd. Along with this, they were also able to overcome their hurdle that was Endgame, where they were set back, but still managed to gain back the title of at least regional power. Perhaps had Endgame not screwed up the Sami, they would still be alive today, perhaps thwarting the dominance of Kazakhstan? This is just mere speculation, though, as we will never find out what the Sami could have done had they just did one thing here or made a certain peace deal there. All in all though, finishing 13th is not bad out of 60 some odd civilizations.

5: Parthia

Knot

You know Parthia, at first the number one civ being unable to take your last city because a dead civ put one of their only units in there was endearing, but it was supposed to eventually end in your death. Not prolonged existence. I will only be ok with this if Madagascar actually goes through with taking you out.

6: Palmyra

Shaggy

Well it isn’t a eulogy yet, but I doubt we’ll be seeing any more of Palmyra outside of their inevitable death slide. Sandwiched between Zimbabwe, Moors and Kazakhs is not the place to be right now for a power-turned-city-state that is just trying to hold on to finish in the top 10. Hey, at least they’re still doing just a bit better than Parthia, right til the very end.

7: Vikings

Lacsirax Ariscal

Folks, we’ve hit the true end game now. The Vikings are a civ with one city so far north in the frosty depths of Greenland that the global recap at the end of each turn misses it every time. They’re also in the top 10. What keeps them above their fellow rumps? Simple: they’re so out of the way it’s hard to see why any civ would bother to finish them off. In fact I wouldn’t bet against Ragnar’s frigid Hell enduring until world war is declared.

This is it

8: Taungoo

MsurdejWhat started last part is now all but finished, as Taungoo has been mostly finished. Zimbabwe tore through the once mighty empire of the Goo, leaving it a scattered collection of holdings in Indonesia and Canton. While they are still at war, it seems unlikely that Hiawatha or the ghost of Chavez will do anything to harm them. No, Bayinnaung’s remaining days will be spent looking out over the ocean, wondering where it all went wrong.

9: Madagascar

Doom

In what will surely go down as a defining moment of endgame much like the fall of the Qin, the entire cylinder was thrown into chaos this episode as Ranavalona declared war on Parthia. While no cities have changed hands yet it's only a matter of time until the pikeman replacements can arrange a proper siege.

10: Australia

Knot

Australia’s position has not changed, so instead of focusing on how another civ is basically obsolete in the current state of the game, I propose a little game you can watch for to keep Australia interesting. They are very close to permanently being in the top ten. Any civ below them is just as likely to die, if not more. Given their performance, tenacity, and general oceanic success in Pre-Endgame, I’m sure some of you would like to see Australia enshrined in the top ten of CBRX1 for all time. On the other hand, some of you are probably salty that a do nothing civ from CBR 2 that also slaughtered several fan favorites is going to be in the top ten again. All it takes is one declaration of war from Uruguay to change that, and kill them here so close to this goal. This is the last great achievement for one of the most polarizing civs, and it is so very close. Place your bets and reveal your allegiance! Are you team “Aussie Top Ten,” or team “Slaughter the Green Menace”?

11: Benin

Gragg

Spectacular week for Benin! Not only have they survived despite being in range of 4 superpowers (Moors, Zimbabwe, Iroquois, Uruguay), but they managed to eliminate the Goths and finally get out of the ‘boring box’. For those that haven’t realized, Benin was the only surviving civ that has not eliminated a civ. Now let’s talk about Benin’s future. They are second to none in terms of spectacular defenses. If the Moors declare war and Benin gains cities, it would just be par for the course. That being said, I wouldn’t bet on it. With so many powerful neighbors it’s only a matter of time before their time runs out. They aren’t quite a runt though so they sit at an undisputed rank 6 below the superpowers.

12: Iroquois

Knot

Yikes! Things do not look good for a civ that was thought to be a real contender to the Kazakhs due to their tech advantage. Ironically, the tech advantage might be their downfall because Hiawatha is so concerned with making a super duper future society, he hasn’t actually built an army to protect that society. Such that even Uruguay, a civ that was projected to lose to the Iroquois due to the massive tech difference, actually made gains against the Iroquois, and could again if they decide to run the war back. Across the coast, the Moors have shown the potential to take NA cities and hold them. They could easily take advantage of this and set up a base on former Iroquoian land. That’s not even mentioning the big elephant in the room: The Kazakhs and their 200+ nukes who are currently at war. It’s very likely that the Kazakhs steamroll Hiawatha’s army, and taking half of his territory, while covering the other half in fallout. It’s not impossible for the Iroquois to turn this around, suddenly build a massive army, and hold back the hordes, but it’s not looking great at the moment.

13: Zimbabwe

Random Strategy:Zimbabwe ate most of Taungoo, reaching the 50 city requirement to become a superpower. The 5th and final one. Though they are still weaker than the other 4 by some margin. The others are about 1.5 times stronger than Zimbabwe in all stats. The only reason they are even ahead of the Iroquois in the PRs is because the Iroquois are getting coalitioned and nuked. Zimbabwe do have one advantage in that, they now have the largest snack bar (it used to be the Moors but the Moors have already eaten their own snacks). Zimbabwe has access to not only the full meal known as Benin, but also Madagascar, Australia, Taungoo and Palmyra. That's 27 cities available put together! Better start munching before others tuck in.

14: Uruguay

Rosé

After the brief clash with the Moors which basically result in a surprising amount of conflict in the Caribbean and Brazil, Uruguay realized that its recent power up may not be doing enough now, the cursed consul decided it had one remaining option: Iroquois. The invasion has been a moderate success with a large chunk of Central America falling to Cursed Blue. Hopefully, there will be more success in the future. However, Guay has one glaring weakness that is holding everyone back from a number one spot, their shitty tech game. This is a common consequence when a civ goes on a rampage, or just get settle happy they become “fat” This means that they have too many cities to sustain themselves and are witnessing a low tech growth and many of the new cities aren’t productive enough. Guay’s Production in its core is stellar sure, but due to the many recent conquests, Guays production per city stands below some of the “non powers” like Taungoo and Australia which is pretty laughable in the late game with expensive buildings and new techs. Speaking of techs, Guay is far behind in that too, being eight techs behind Zimbabwe and Twenty techs behind the leader Iroquois. As lame as it may sound, Guay should probably stop declaring wars and actually develop its territory if they want any chance to win the rest of the game.

15: Moors

Altima

Rahman stands at a crossroad. Hiawatha, the one guy with comparable tech, is currently being fed his own limbs by the Blue Boi Band. If Rahman joins in that war right now, with the Iroquois distracted, he’d likely walk away with fairly significant profit on top of further crippling his tech rival. However, the lingering danger of the Kazakhs still hovers overhead- the Khan is gaining on Rahman technologically, and while the Moors have pushed ahead in production, it’s unclear how solid that gain actually is- it may just be a Golden Age for the Moors. Rahman and his people have a choice to make- will they act decisively and pull ahead, or will they stagnate as their rivals erode the fields they currently hold the advantage in?

16: Kazakhs

Doom

After a tumultuous part, the Kazakhs cement their hold on the top spot, with a unanimous ranking of 1. While previous wars with the Iroquois have proved inconclusive, the Kazakhs seem on the verge of a breakthrough at last with some help from Uruguay and the Moors. Ablai Khan also retains the top place in military, thanks to several hundred nukes. In the hands of a human player this could end the game but Ablai is more likely to let the vast majority of them go to waste sitting around somewhere in Siberia.